CDOT Funding On The Rise

Denver— Thanks to voter approval of Referendum C last November, the Colorado Department of Transportation will likely see a total of $535.8 million in additional funding through next June. The extra money is the automatic funding CDOT receives from excess state revenues — money now remaining

Two different funding mechanisms direct general fund money to CDOT after state revenues reach certain thresholds. Senate Bill 1, approved in 1997, provides funding to a group of over two dozen high-priority highway projects across the state. That funding source dried up during the recession, but because Referendum C allows the state to keep excess revenues for five years instead of refunding them to taxpayers, the threshold for SB-1 transfers has been reached, and CDOT currently anticipates receiving $229 million in the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2007.

The second funding mechanism, House Bill 1310, passed in 2002, provides funding for highways based on revised TABOR limits. That threshold, too, has been reached, and CDOT now expects to receive $291.8 million from that source this year.

Heather Copp, CDOT chief financial officer, said since the SB-1 money isn't firm yet, the agency will budget $161.1 million of it in the reserve category until December. Of the remaining $67.9 million, $45 million is budgeted for improvements to the Interstate 25 interchange south of Colorado Springs that serves Fort Carson.